Teleport Sigma
by Houdini124
Summary: Something inspired by NakaTeleeli's walkthrough of Touhou Mother. Lucas learned the Teleport set as his predecessors did, along with three that had never been seen before; Gamma, Omage, and most notably, Sigma. When he practiced the latter, his life changed for the better.


Lucas was so excited. A few months before, he had accidentally stepped on some ants, and a few minutes later he started feeling feverish. While the feeling was uncomfortable, he couldn't help but be excited as he paced around his room, waiting for the effects of learning a new PSI ability to kick in.

It was as if a flower had bloomed in his psyche, its fruits being an ability Lucas had never seen before but then realized the power of: PK Teleport Alpha. He immediately told Flint and Boney and Duster and Kumatora, the latter of which was staying at the Yado Hotel until further notice. He had even gone into the Forest Prayer Sanctuary so he could tell Hinawa and Claus, his beloved and missed mother and brother.

A few months later, he accidentally killed a spider with his stick when he was walking around the Sunshine Forest and got another PSI fever, resulting in him learning PK Teleport Beta.

On and on it went, learning new, more fruitful methods of teleportation, he even got Gamma and Omega, which he learned were either extremely rare or non-existent. He wished the Magypsies were still around so he could ask about the Teleport set because for the most part, he was clueless on PK Teleport Gamma and Omega; even though he had realized their power, that did not stop the absolute blank of knowledge that came with with them.

The reason Lucas was so excited was because he had another fever, due to killing a pesky mosquito on his neck, and he wanted to see what new ability he would gain to bend the world around him. At long last, Lucas' fever died away, leaving him to jump out of his chair in excitement and await the directions his mind bequeathed to him.

At first, he was confused; Lucas had never seen something with this symbol of power before, but that would not stop him from using it.

Lucas stepped outside and used PK Teleport Alpha to get to a field he had discovered on his many teleporting adventures; coincidentally the hundred feet by a hundred feet area was bordered by a thin line of sunflowers which kept the boy somewhat calm as he practiced his PSI.

Making sure he was in the middle so he would not run out of field, Lucas casted his new move, mentally yelling it: "PK Teleport Sigma!"

Lucas let his spell move his body however it needed; which was in a gradually accelerating spinning motion, turning on his toes and angling his ankles on the ground. Just as Lucas thought he couldn't keep his arms to his side any longer, the teleportation completed its charge and Lucas sped across the earth made of the matter of a ghost a distance until he stopped himself, although just before he did he thought he felt a strange sensation on his back, like he walked backwards into a cobweb without his shirt.

In his mind, Lucas contemplated the ability. Very fast, not too expensive either, just four psychic points. Like Teleport Beta a bit, only he spun in one place, thus creating the energy he needed in a very confined area. He wondered if it could work in enclosed areas as well.

Lucas turned around to redo his new ability to get a better analysis, but just as he did he stopped cold, eyes frozen on the figure at the end of the field backgrounded by sunflowers. A shiver went down his spine and he remembered so long ago when something similar had happened, only he woke up in a field full of sunflowers and the figure- No, this one was different, smaller- and the figure from before had been glowing bright white.

Lucas wanted so much to call the figure's name, the one he had grown so accustomed to but had become idle in the past few years, but his throat failed him until he cleared it. "Claus?"

The figure, who had been cradling a sunflower, turned around at the sound of Lucas' voice. "Lucas?"

Upon realizing who the other was, both boys ran to each other, each step slowing down time. Lucas started crying and almost tripped when he was so close to his twin, but Claus tackled Lucas in a hug so he hit the ground anyway.

Lucas sat up and pressed close against Claus, sobbing into his shoulder and warbling incomprehensible things like, "Chimera... Badge... Mom... Lightning..." But Claus couldn't make out anything more than that because Lucas was crying so hard.

"Luke, I'm here, shhh, it's okay," but even as he comforted his brother Claus let two twin tears slip down his cheeks onto Lucas' shirt.

Just as Lucas seemed to be finished, another wave of tears overcame him and he clutched at Claus for support. After a long while, Lucas pulled away and wiped his eyes. "You came back Claus, how? I missed you so much!"

Claus could see more tears forming in Lucas' eyes, and he wiped them away with his thumb. "It's okay Lucas, I'm here now, you don't have to cry anymore. I missed you too, but I don't know how I came back. I... Died, right? I don't remember how... The Mecha Drago, it hit me off that cliff."

Lucas' mind flashed to the lightning that had been coming straight at him, flinching away in fear and immediately rushing forward to catch the one who sent it to him. The sickening crack of the thunder and the sharpness of the electricity, racing with deadly electrons that seemed to cackle with sadistic glee, like a hyena just before delivering the final hit refreshed itself into poor Lucas' mind.

"You did. I don't care how you died or how you're living again, I'm just so glad you're back!" Lucas stuck like a magnet to Claus again, remembering his scent. The last time he had been reminded of how Claus smelled was the day he died... The second time.

Lucas gasped heavily and quaked all over as he got to know his twin again, clutching at his shoulder blades like he was making sure they and he were real, as if he was trying to catch mist or ghost vapor all the while feeling guilty he had lied about Claus' death if only to try to forget and just have a regular brother again.

Claus hugged Lucas back and listened to his twin weep for him. He rubbed calming circles into Lucas' back to soothe him, if even a little.

Lucas finally calmed down enough to make eye contact- The same green eyes that had sometimes been mean to him, but had mostly defended him he could finally look at again with his own blue eyes, which had turned dark blue from the moisture of sobbing so profusely.

"Are you better now?" Claus gave his twin one more squeeze on his shoulder and helped him wipe off his face again.

Lucas nodded, still overjoyed but reminded. "Wh-Where did y-you come from, anyway?" He asked once he trusted his own voice.

Claus thought for a moment, vaguely recalling something through the excitement of the reunion. "I felt like my back was stuck to something, like my shirt was wet, then I was launched off toward the end of the field. I... Wanted to pay my respects to Mom and try to ask her where I was, so I turned to the sunflowers. Then I heard you call my name and..." Claus choked up and momentarily covered his mouth with his hand to retaliate. He had to be strong.

Lucas remembered the cobweb-like feeling his back had had right before he stopped charging his teleportation. If both his and Claus's happened at the same time did Lucas just... Make a clone of himself?

"I... Found out I can teleport... And... I came out here to test my newest one and there was a weird feeling on my back then... You came..."

Pulling himself to his knees, Claus wondered aloud, "It sounds like your teleport move made me appear then. It wasn't a duplication thing, was it? Sorry, I don't know much about PSI, all I know is PK Love Alpha."

"What? But you used Thu-" Lucas clamped his mouth shut so tight Claus could hear his teeth clacking together before he composed himself again, "Ah, I mean, you were using the homemade knife when you, you know." But really, Lucas was referencing the blast of energy that blossomed from the light sword, but Lucas didn't know it.

Heeding the uncertain look Claus gave him, Lucas added, "Besides, have you ever tried something like PK Thunder?" Lucas could see the change in Claus' eyes as he realized he did know PK Thunder and mentally sighed.

"How'd you know I could use that?"

"I'll tell you when you're older," Lucas joked.

"But I'm older than you!" Claus fumed as he playfully nudged Lucas' arm.

"Regardless. You want to go see Dad? I think you have a town to say 'hi' to," Lucas gently tugged on Claus' arm as he got up.

"Fine, but you'll tell me how you know so much about PSI tonight, right?"

"Nope!" Lucas laughed as he hugged his twin one last time before getting set up for a group teleport, "We'll go anyway."

Claus gave Lucas a look that begged for information. "Please?"

"Nah, you wouldn't like it anyway. That jacket looked great on you, by the way."

"What jacket?"

"That."

Claus was silent for a few moments. "Luke, are you kidding with me?"

Lucas laughed a little as Claus jabbed at his ribs, just like when they were kids. Before Claus could ask what had happened in town while he was gone, Lucas snatched his hand and used PK Teleport Alpha to return to Tazmily square.

The twins appeared from an invisible portal near the fountain, and as Lucas skidded to a stop while helping Claus do the same, the older sibling started feeling a bit nauseous from the sudden dimension-switch, but got over it quickly.

"CLAUS!"

Just as Claus was turning around, he was tackled by Fuel, who just happened to be passing by at the time.

The shout of joy turned heads in the square, and everyone in it, including and especially Flint, looked to the fountain. Within moments Lucas, Claus and Fuel were surrounded by Tazmily's inhabitants, some crying, some trying to hug Claus, and everyone expressing their joy at his return.

Finally Flint weaved his way through the crowd and kneeled down to hug his long-lost-twice son, whose final breath he had witnessed.

For almost an hour the Tazmilians celebrated Claus' return, and all of them he thanked, always acknowledging how happy he was to be back with the living.

Soon after all the celebrations, Lucas, Claus and Flint finally went back to their house. Claus was amazed at how much Tazmily had changed in the past three or four years since he had been there, back before that Drago had gotten mutilated and the Sunshine Forest burned.

When Claus saw Boney sleeping in his doghouse, he kneeled down and scratched under his muzzle. Boney's eyes tiredly opened from a long nap and his vision was quite blurry, so he couldn't recognize who was petting him until a finger was put under his nose. Immediately Boney's eyes shot open, knowing that only one person could have that scent.

'Claus!' Boney yelled in Claus' mind as he leaped on his owner and attempted to lick his face off, 'I missed you so so SO much I buried a bone in the sheep pen for you I can get it for you if you want I can't believe you're back now we can play fetch and go on walks and you can brush me and we can play in the snow and drink hot chocolate and hey did you know that Duster and Kumatora are boyfriend and girlfriend now and I can beat up that dude who puts stuff in your mailbox for you look I can hit him with this Canine Weapon I got from an adventure even though you were part of it I can't wait to tell you all about the Needles and Club Titiboo and New Pork City even though you already know about it and I can show you pictures taken by a strange man from the sky and we can go find squirrels and Mr. Batties and it'll be so much FUN!'

By this point, Claus had the same hairstyle as Lucas from Boney's non-stop licking and couldn't barely understand anything his dog was saying. "Boney, slow down! Or at least finish one sentence at a time!"

Boney got up, allowing Claus to, shook himself off and ran around in a circle. 'I missed you so much! I can't believe you're back! We're gonna have so much fun! Lucas and I have a story to tell you, even though you were part of it!'

And Boney went on for a while about how much fun he and Claus were going to have before his energy seemed to die out and he went back into his doghouse, saying he'd continue the next day.

Once in the house, Claus immediately flopped face-first onto Lucas'- HIS and Lucas'- bed and inhaled deeply, fanning out his arms over the quilt and reveling in the fact that he was finally home. Once he was done, he turned around and sat up as Lucas and Flint sat beside him. "You didn't get rid of the old bed, this is the same one from when I was a kid."

Flint nodded, feeling the fabric between his fingers, the brim of his hat hiding his expression.

"I didn't realize how much I missed the smell of Tazmily and our house and the sheep, I feel like I'm finally home," as he remained wrapped up in memories of his first life, Claus' eyes took on a glassy sheen.

Lucas leaned over and hugged his brother tightly for the umpteenth time that day. "So do I, it hasn't quite been home without you. Please don't leave again."

Claus' face was lost in Lucas' cowlick as Flint hugged both his twins tightly for the first time in forever.

Later that night, the reunited family was in bed, all sound asleep. Except for a certain redhead, whose sleep was not as sound as it should have been. Lucas' arms were wrapped tightly around him.

Claus was having a particularly strange and somewhat troubling dream. The strange part was that it seemed as though he was reading a script, he could see the words scrolling up in his dream, but the image of what was happening on this script was actually happening right next to it. The script was in first person, as was the image; Claus was seeing from his own eyes. The dream was also fuzzy, hard to make out, like a television or even a Happy Box during a storm. The dream went something like this:

I walked on pink clouds. There was nothing in sight except a civilization of familiar pink shells that lay far in the distance. I had nothing to do except walk there.

The closer I got to the town, the farther away it seemed, but I got there. Eventually.

I was greeted at the edge of the lines of buildings by a light yellow cat, swimming in the very ground I was standing on- Or should I say, cloud I was standing on.

Not only was this cat swimming in the ground- I'll call it ground if I want- it spoke, "Welcome back, friend! Hinawa has been awaiting your arrival. Shall I lead you to her residence?"

I nodded wordlessly, what could I say? How was this cat's existence possible?

The cat backstroked through the clouds as it led me through the maze of shells; no one seemed to be traversing the paths so I figured all the residents of this... Place were just inside.

I stopped when the cat did at a pink shell with potted sunflowers in the windows, beside the door, and as the shape of the doorbell. I raised my hand to ring said doorbell when the cat mentioned, "Go on in, they're expecting you, of course."

I nodded and pushed through the door to enter a rather spacious room with one light pink armchair and a few pink couches, all facing inwards to a coffee table whose legs looked like they were carved from the inside of a conch shell with a glass top.

There was a young, perky, blonde girl with a sky blue and white maid's outfit sitting in one of the couches, beaming at me with bright eyes. "I'm so glad you could make it, Clausy!" She patted the cushion next to her. "Come sit next to me!"

I somewhat hesitantly did as she told me, and to my shock I felt a light kiss on my cheek, immediately staining my face red down to my neck and ears as the girl giggled and held my hand.

Only then did I notice the woman sitting in the armchair; that red dress with white trim, the sunflower in her coconut shell colored hair, the beautiful, almond colored eyes. She could only be one person.

"Mom," I managed to get out. "What is this place? Did you really call me here?"

Mom nodded. "Yes, dear, I did. This place is Magicant, where you, I and everyone go after death. And as we found out, even robots- Chimera- Come here once they die, as you can see from Mashumaro-chan beside you."

I looked to the girl, Mashumaro-chan, who waved and smiled at me.

"Speaking of whom..." Hinawa now addressed Mashumaro-chan, "Did I not remind you that he wouldn't remember anything when he came back?"

Mashumaro-chan giggled, "I know, Ma, can't I have some fun with him? Besides, I prefer to go by 'Little Miss Marshmallow'."

Mom rolled her eyes and allowed herself a chuckle. "Very well, but I wouldn't want him to be scared of you when he returns again."

"I'm sorry, you two, I'm just really confused right now," I raised my hands as I interrupted the conversation, unknowingly bringing Little Miss Marshmallow's hand with mine.

Mom paused for a moment. "... Sorry. That was why we brought you here, was so we could tell you what really happened after you died the first time."

"There was another time?"

"Yes, but I wiped your memory once you returned here, the second time, to Magicant. Had you known, it would have affected fate too much, and the world wouldn't have carried on the way it was intended to."

"Okay... And you were going to tell me now, now that I need to know, correct?"

Mom nodded. "It all started a long time ago. We were visiting Grandpa Alec's farm, and upon returning through the forest it caught on fire and we were attacked by the Mecha Drago, which slew me, leaving you and Ryuka- What Lucas' name translates to in Magicant- to be washed down the river."

"The naming system is different here?"

Little Miss Marshmallow answered, "Yes, everyone's name is different; Hinawa's was one of the only ones that was a Magicant translation back on Earth."

And so, the next hour was spent with Mom informing me of all that transpired between my first death to my second, alternating between what one could call "chapters" to cover my story and Lucas'.

When she got to the point in the story where Master Porky locked himself in the Absolutely Safe Capsule, I interrupted again, "Serves him right! He shouldn't be allowed to die, not to come here!"

"I agree! Even if he did order my creation, he deserves what he got!" Little Miss Marshmallow proclaimed as she squeezed my hand.

"And so," Mom continued, "Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, and Boney all continued on, knowing you could still pull the last Needle. They encountered you, just about to pull it, but you struck them all with lightning. The Franklin Badge Lucas wore made the lightning rebound and strike you instead, and you attacked him. Lucas couldn't fight back because of what Flint said: That the Masked Man was his brother. I contacted you through visions and you realized who you were after a while, and you shot a condensed beam of lightning to Lucas which was again reflected. You gave your 'last' breath in Lucas' arms, and he pulled the final Needle. When you came here-"

Little Miss Marshmallow interrupted Mom, bouncing up and down next to me. "Oh! Oh! Can I finish it? Please?!"

Hinawa closed her eyes, nodded and chuckled a bit. "Yes, child."

"And then when you came to Magicant we saw each other every day, and soon you asked me what I had been writing in a journal and I told you it was about my time as a robot before your brother got to me, and you took it from my house one night when I was asleep and read it and that's how we found out we love each other! You were standing right behind me when I finished writing it, too."

I looked to Mom. "For real?"

She nodded.

"But how can I keep all this information? It's not like I remember the experiences, although you'd think I'd remember things like fireworks, farts and hot springs in wrapped-up presents..."

Mom got up, walked around the coffee table and kneeled down in front of me, looking directly into my eyes. "The queen of this place has given me permission to use this technique but once, Little Miss Marshmallow her own, too, so don't move." Mom put two fingers of her right hand on my forehead and two fingers of her left hand on my chest, where my heart was.

A bright light filled the room- No, it spawned from my eyes and mouth- and then it was over. We all waited a few moments for something to happen, but nothing did.

Then suddenly, BAM! Terms like "Pigmask" and "Porky" and "Thunder Tower" and "Magypsy" and "Fassad" flooded into my mind. Next came noises like pigs squealing, the gasps and wheezes of Porky, my own lightning striking my opponents, the thunder crackling evilly. Then scents; cafeteria food, fart-presents, the wet smell of hot springs, sizzling circuits. The tastes, Pork Noodles, Sincerity Dumplings, Hot Dog Sushi, especially omelets. Then came feelings. Nothing at first. Of course, when I had been reprogrammed they couldn't rid me of all emotions, that would rid me of loyalty and chivalry. Obvious things like love, demonstrated by my girlfriend, remained, but no physical feelings, but then I realized the most common one was blinding me from the others.

Pain.

The sharpest pain that I could remember was... My own lightning. It struck my heart, leaving me only a few moments of tortured life before I dropped. I winced at the memory, and Little Miss Marshmallow squeezed my hand to give me comfort.

"You are saddened," Mom spoke with a hand on my shoulder, "Perhaps Little Miss Marshmallow should enlighten you of what happened after death."

I looked up from my memory surge and looked at both of them, and I nodded, thinking anything could be better than the story of my death.

With a small smile that didn't seem to be expressing all the emotion felt, Little Miss Marshmallow silently removed her hand from mine and placed it over my heart, her other hand cupped over my forehead like she was checking to see if I had a PSI fever.

A dimmer light filled the room, as if there wasn't as much that had to be remembered, and when the post-death memories set in I was suddenly feeling extremely cheiloproclitic towards Little Miss Marshmallow, but I restrained myself, the other memories that created this feeling sending a light blush to my face.

"So you remember all the everything that happened now?" My girlfriend asked as her hand returned to mine.

Without any words to describe all the forgotten information, I simply nodded. The weird thing was, was that when Mom had told me both her and Lucas' stories, and Little Miss Marshmallow ours, it was like I had relived everything, but only after they did the whole light show thing. Even Lucas' point of view, because I seemed to have some memories of myself yelling at someone whose eyes I was looking through, who I assumed was Lucas the day I died the first time. Another seemed to be the cell of memory reaching into a glass case and grabbing a red yoyo, then it turned to a robotic, heavily damaged Little Miss Marshmallow who was laying face-first on the floor yelling nonsensical things like, "The number you have dialed is currently out of pork chops," before exploding.

"Why are you telling me these things? Wouldn't Lucas have when I wake up?" I turned to Mom.

Mom turned her gaze down and hooked her fingers together. "Sadly, although he set you up to believe that, he wouldn't have, and he would have later told even Boney to not say anything. I do not want you to be angry at him, however."

"I can assure you I won't. But I have a question." I rotated my shoulders and crossed my legs as Mom went to go sit in her chair. "Will I be coming back here? I know I will when I die... Again... But can you summon me here anymore, or did the queen you mentioned make an exception for you and Little Miss Marshmallow? I'm gonna miss you..."

Little Miss Marshmallow giggled quietly and replied, "Of course. I think it's an exclusive feature for those who have come here more than one time, apart from being summoned, that is."

I blushed a little and put a hand on the back of my neck to cool it down. "Heh, I guess I made some bad decisions the last two times, didn't I? I'll be more careful this time. Honest."

Mom's eyes seemed to glaze over for half a second before she reported, "You're going to wake up soon. Little Miss Marshmallow, you wanted to escort him out?"

Little Miss Marshmallow nodded, stood and followed Mom to the door, taking me with her. Before we could walk out, Mom tapped me on the shoulder. "Forgetting something?"

Remembering that this was Mom I was dealing with, I released Little Miss Marshmallow's hand and hugged Mom close. As I pulled away, I asked, "How long do I have to wait to see you again?"

She chuckled and ruffled my orange hair. "We won't leave you for more than a week at a time, don't worry." Then she leaned down and kissed the top of my head, saying goodbye as she did. Mom waved Little Miss Marshmallow and I away from the door, and we were off to go locate my consciousness.

The houses passed by us, more rather the other way around, and we were silent. We made it past the border and past the cat who swims in the ground and past a lot of nothing but bubbly clouds before Little Miss Marshmallow spoke up. "So, do you feel enlightened?"

I looked over at her, knowing I wouldn't be able to trip over anything but my own shoes for the next few eternities. "Yeah, I do, but except for your part, I can't tell whether or not this is a good thing, that I know."

"Well, I at the very least think it's a good thing," she stated as she squeezed my hand. "That has to count for something, right?"

"Mmm..." I hummed.

The town was slowly getting smaller behind us, and I could tell Little Miss Marshmallow was enjoying my company as much as I was enjoying hers.

We approached a very faint color difference in the ground; the opposite side was just a shade lighter pink than our side. Little Miss Marshmallow saw the difference and she stopped us. "This is where you'll descend back into your conscious mind," she revealed, shifting her feet slightly in place. "I... Don't feel like I was with you long enough. You remember all the great times we shared now, Hinawa could barely pull us away from each other when one of us needed to do something."

I did indeed remember, and it was taking up most of my willpower not to scoop up my girlfriend and kiss her, even if she was in the afterlife, and just be with her for a while.

"I guess..." She continued, "Even though we've been together for the past year or so, I'm going to miss you while you're alive..." She said "alive" like someone would say "dead." Little Miss Marshmallow's eyes teared up and she swiftly moved forward and hugged me, burying her face in my shoulder.

Bracing myself against the ground with my foot so we didn't fall over, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and one around her waist, like a backward seatbelt. "Marshmallow, I'll be back in less than a week, you heard Mom." I sat us both down on the cloudy ground, which was actually really soft, like a down pillow, almost.

"I know," she wept as she attempted to pull herself together, and partially succeeded. "But I'm still g-going to miss you..." Little Miss Marshmallow crawled into my lap and continued calming down, and almost did it entirely. "B-But what if you don't come back? What if Queen Mary only allows us to let you come back today? What if-"

"Be quiet." I couldn't resist my urge anymore, that and I couldn't stand to see her so sad and weepy, and so the hand that was on her shoulder came to a rest on the back of her head and pulled her toward me, the other hand splashing on the side of her face.

"Mmph!"

Little Miss Marshmallow's face was indescribably wet, and I figured my hands would taste salty for a few days, if this body could work like that. The last few tears streamed out of her eyes before she closed them, exhaling out of her nose as her mouth was blocked by mine.

I pulled away and dried off her cheeks. "Better?"

Little Miss Marshmallow slowly opened her eyes. "Yes."

I heard a faint "thump, thump, thump" sound coming from Little Miss Marshmallow. "Are you okay?"

Little Miss Marshmallow blushed and the sound got slightly louder. "Ehm, y-yes... I think you're listening to my heartbeat..."

I laughed out loud and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll be back soon, I promise!" I chuckled as I got up and backed toward the boundary into my consciousness.

"I'll hold you to that," Little Miss Marshmallow made an inside joke as she followed me up, ghosting her fingers across the palm of my hand. "Goodbye."

"Bye, my Little Miss!" I whispered as I stepped back through into my consciousness.

The dream ended and Claus woke up, his eyes still closed. He felt the mattress next to him to see if Lucas was still there, and feeling he wasn't, Claus pulled the covers over his head and his pillow into his stomach, enjoying the one thing he loved the first two times he lived. The first time he had tried sleeping in in the Pigmask Army had ended terribly, and he shivered at the thought.

"I saw you move~" Came a voice outside the blankets, therefore outside Claus' range of caring. Even if he should be tired of being dead, that wasn't going to stop him from pretending to be.

A slight clank like glass on wood came from outside the blankets, and then something jabbed into Claus' side, making him lurch. Another jab quickly followed in a different place and another and an army of them. Try as Claus did, he couldn't help but give in to the immense peals of laughter that erupted from his throat.

"L-L-Laahahahaha! Luca-a-as! Sto-ha-op i-it!" Claus involuntarily shouted, trying his hardest to form a sentence.

"No," was the reply from outside the blankets, which were slowly undoing themselves from Claus as he struggled to unpin himself from Lucas holding him down. "Not until you say 'uncle'."

"U-u-uhncle! Uncle! Stop it!" By the time Claus said that, his head was already visible above the sheets.

Lucas grinned cheekily at him as he climbed off the bed, satisfied with his work. "Hey Bro! I made you breakfast!"

Claus perked up at the mention of breakfast. "You did? Thank yo-" Before he could finish his sentence, Claus was pulled out of bed by an overly energetic twin.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! We've got so much to do, so many things to see and say!" Lucas tugged Claus into a kitchen chair with an omelet with ketchup and hash browns on the table with a glass of grape juice.

After quickly downing the breakfast and thanking Lucas again, Claus had to jog to keep up with Lucas, who was skipping backwards outside. "Wait up!"

Throughout the day, Claus saw things and people he hadn't in a long time. Lucas brought him to the Sunset Cemetery, showing the single new gravestone that had been put there since Claus' death (besides his own), Scamp's. Claus didn't have many memories or Scamp, but he remembered him being kind of mean, along with his parrot. Thomas' Bazaar was still open, and they weren't selling any firearms anymore.

At one point, Lucas and Claus went into the Yado Hotel to catch up on some gossip, mainly concerning Nana's parents.

"You like her, don'cha Luke?" Claus teased, nudging Lucas' shoulder with his own as they went out (after being told by Jackie that he would get in trouble if their father caught them in there) and back to their house, having quite the day of running around.

Lucas' face turned a bit pink, not much, just enough to be noticeable. "N-No! Of course not, she's really pretty and nice and kinda hot but-" Lucas shut his mouth immediately as his brother laughed harder. Lucas poked Claus between his eyes. "Be quiet, sir. Like you haven't ever had a crush." Lucas realized right after he said that that it was probably impossible, especially since when they were nine Claus never told him of any form of love for anyone.

Claus finally calmed down after a bit. "Y'know, I haven't told you yet, but I did have one at one point." Claus decided that this was as good a time as ever to tell Lucas that he knew who he was and what he did, so he led his twin out onto a narrow stretch of land near their house that had an empty present that looked to be about three or four years old.

"Who is she?"

Claus sat down and let his feet dangle off the cliff, the water sloshing some twenty feet below, maybe thirty or forty feet, Claus couldn't tell. He was actually more nervous about revealing what he knew than he thought, so he decided to stall, at least for a while, just until he got his courage up.

"Well, she was really pretty, really smart, about my height," Claus started slowly. "She always wore this cute maid's outfit, it was light blue and white and all ruffly. It took months before we started talking to each other, other than gossip, that is."

Claus swallowed as Lucas sat beside him, remembering all the times he and Little Miss Marshmallow had had in Magicant. "She... She liked me back, a lot..."

"D'aaaw!" Lucas cooed. "I'm so happy for you! What happened after that?" Lucas did not even realize that he did not know anyone like this.

Claus blushed as more memories of past times played in his head, times that would be rebuilt the next time he went to Magicant. "Well, we became an official couple..."

Taking the cue from the shine in Lucas' eyes, Claus sighed, "Yes Luke, we did kiss a lot."

"I knew it!" Lucas fist-pumped, "I knew you would attract a lot of girls! I'm a psychic!"

"You are a psychic."

"Oh, yeah. Anyway, what was her name?" After a moment, Lucas noticed something odd. "Wait, when was this?"

It was time to tell Lucas, and Claus was confident he could do it so he sucked in a deep breath and explained, "Back when I was the commander of the Pigmask Army."

Lucas' face was one of shock. "H- But how did..." Lucas' eyes widened further. "You don't mean... Little Miss Marshmallow, from Thunder Tower, do you?"

Claus nodded.

"Oh, dude, I am so sorry-"

Claus patted Lucas' back. "It's okay, you couldn't have known. I met her again after death, where our relationship started."

"But how do you remember?"

Claus drew his left leg up to his chest and folded his hands on his knee. "Mom brought me back to Magicant last night, where we all went after death. She explained the entire thing to me and did some magic thing to my head that made me remember, but she told both of our stories so I know what you were doing too, at least during the story Mom told. She knew you weren't gonna tell me, but I needed to know so she told me herself, and since Little Miss Marshmallow was right there she filled me in on everything that happened after death."

Lucas shivered. "I feel like a murderer..."

Claus nudged Lucas. "Hey, think about it this way. At least you weren't brainwashed and used to try to destroy the world, you did what you had to to stop me."

Lucas brightened up after that. "Yeah, you're right. The number you have dialed is currently out of pork chops?"

Claus laughed and poked his twin. "I think I ate all of them..."

"So, does this mean you're okay with who you were back then?"

The redhead stopped for a moment, then rested his head on his knee, green eyes still looking into Lucas' blue ones. "No, I'm not. I caused a lot of destruction and grief and I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for doing what I did, even if I was being manipulated, but nobody seems to be too mad at me for what I did so I'm just going to live with that. It doesn't change how I think of anyone or anything, except maybe fat dudes wearing pig masks."

Lucas leaned over and hugged Claus. "Even if we have this awkward thing between us, I'm so happy you're back so we can fill that rift and live our lives just as Mom and Dad said we would, working together and helping each other with things the other couldn't at first. I didn't think we'd be able to do it, and here we are. I couldn't have been luckier to have you as a brother, and I hope you remember that."

Claus absorbed what Lucas said for a few seconds, then hugged him back. "Thanks, Luke. You always were the more mature of us."

Lucas laughed and ruffled Claus' hair, and Claus did the same back, and pretty soon it got turned into a full-out poke war, twin against twin, both laughing and teasing each other just like old times as Claus chased Lucas back to the house.


End file.
